Kality Prison: Somebody's Hell is another's Heaven

Ethiopia, Modernday Orwellian Animal-Farm

You may disagree with me but I believe that if there are such things called heaven and/or hell, it is only here on planet earth. Let's keep this rhetoric aside for a while and discuss about the main issue which came across to me last Saturday while I was attending the book-release event held by the duo Swedish journalists who were "pardoned" last year after being jailed for 438 days in Ethiopia, to remember thousands of Ethiopian prisoners of conscience and the crackdown on dissent in Ethiopia. TPLF's (Tigray People's Liberation Front) late strongman bragged " Swedish and Ethiopians are before our justice system; we bleed the same blood", when asked if he was

ዝዋይ እስር ቤትን ያየ ቃሊቲን ያመሰግናል።

እውን የነጭም የጥቁርም ደም ለኢህአዴግ አንድ ዓይነት ነው?

እንደምን ከረማችሁ? እንኳን ወደ አዲሱ ዓመት "በሰላም" (መቼም አንዳቾቻችሁ ምን ሰላም አለና እንደምትሉ መጠርጠር ግድ ይላል፡ እኔም ከእናንተ መሃል አንዱ ነኝ) ተሸጋገራችሁ። 2006 እንዴት ይዟችኋል? ግን ግን እንደው ግርም አይልም የእኝህ የ"አዲሱ" ጠቅላይ ምኒስትር ነገር። ትዝ ይላችሁ እንደሆን ሟቹ ጠቅላይ ምኒስትር ከመሞታቸው በፊት ሁለቱን ስዊድናውያን ጋዜጠኞች ለመፍታት ሃሳብ እንዳላቸው ጥያቄ ቀርቦላቸው "በህግ ፊት ሁላችንም እኩል ነን (ሆድ ሲያውቅ ዶሮ ማታ አለች የምትለው ጥቅስ ትዝ አትላችሁም) ጥቁርም ሆነ ነጭ ደማችን አንድ ነው" ብለው መልስ ሰጥተው ነበር። በኋላ ላይ ግን ቀኝ አዙር ብለው ለፈረንጆቹ

Addis Abeba, Gonder and Dessie but which is Next?

Following a public rally in the capital last month by the young opposition Semayawi Party that was the largest demonstration by a political party since the 2005 rigged election, UDJ (the Union for Democracy and Justice) party held its biggest public protests in Northern Ethiopian towns of Gondar and Dessie last Sunday ( July, 14) under the theme Millions of Voices for Freedom. BTW, UDJ is the only

ትናንት አዲስ አበባ፡ዛሬ ደሴ እና ጎንደር ማነህ/ሽ ባለሳምንት?

እድሜ ለአንድነት፡አስተነፈሰን

ነበር ያሉት ባለፈው እሁድ ሃምሌ 8 2005 የዴሴን ጎዳናዎች ያጥለቀለቁት በብዙ ሺህ የሚቆጠሩ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በስልጣን ላይ ያለው የህውሃት መንግስት የሚያደርገውን አፈናና ወከባ እንዲያቆም ለመጠየቅ ሰላማዊ የወጡ የአንድነት ለፍትህና ዴሞክራሲ ደጋፊዎች እና አባላት። እኔ ደግሞ እድሜ ለሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ብያለሁ፡ ምክንያቱም ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ይህንን ከ 97ቱ ምርጫ በኋላ በገዥው ፓርቲ ታግቶ የቆየውን ህገመንግስታዊ መብት ባይሰብር ኖሮ ባለፈው እሁድ በጎንደር እና በደሴ ከተሞች ያየናቸውን ደማቅ እና

አማርኛ ቋንቋ እና እኛ

ከዚህ በታች ያስቀመጥኳቸው የኢሜይል ምልልሶች ለዛሬው ጦማሬ መነሻ ቢሆኑኝም ለረጅም ጊዜ ግን በውስጤ ሳብላላውና እራሴንም ሆነ ሌሎች ተማርን የምንል ኢትዮጵያውያን ወገኖች እርስበእርሳችን ለመግባባት ወይም መልእክት ለመለዋወጥ ከአማርኛና ሌሎች ኢትዮጵያዊ ቋንቋዎች ይልቅ ለምን ሌሎች የባእድ ቋንቋዎችን መጠቀም እንደምንመርጥ ግራ ያጋባኛል። ስንፍና፡ የአዋቂነት ምልክት ወይስ የራስ የሆነ ነገርን የመጥላትና የማንቋሸሽ አባዜ  (self-loathing) ወይም የማንነት ቀውስ (identity crisis) ካልሆነ ሌላ ምን ይባላል? በጣም ግርም የሚለው ደግሞ ከእኛ በላይ ኢትዮጵያዊ ለአሳር የሚሉ ግለሰቦችና ቡድኖች

ቢግብራዘርአፍሪካ፡ቤቲ፡እና እኛ

ዛሬ ይለያል ጉዱ 

እስቲ በትልቁ ወንድም አፍሪካ በእንግሊዘኛው አጠራር ቢግብራዘርአፍሪካ ልጀምር። ይህ በጂዮርጅ ኦርዌል ልብወለድ መጽሃፍ ላይ ከሚገኝ አንድ አምባገነን ገጸባህሪ ስሙን በውሰት በመውሰድ በሆላንድ አገር  እንደ አውሮፓውያኑ ቀመር በ1990 መጨረሻ ላይ የተጀመረ Reality Show የቴሌቪዥን የመዝናኛ ይቅርታ የመጃጃያ ዝግጅት አገር፡ድንበር እና ባህር በማቋረጥ በመላው ዓለም ታዋቂነትን በማግኘት ወደ አፍሪካ በመዝለቅ ከደቡብ አፍሪካ ለአፍሪካውያውን አድናቂዎች ዝግጅቱን ማሰራጨት ከጀመረ እነሆ አንድ አስርት ዓመት ሆኖታል። እኔ በበኩሌ ይህንን ዝግጅት ተከታትዬው የማላቅ ሲሆን ዛሬ ይሄን ጦማር እንድጦምር ያነሳሳኝ ግን ባለፉት ሳምንታት ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ እና በውጭ አገራት የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን ዘንድ ከፍተኛ የመነጋገሪያ አጀንዳ ከሆኑት ጉዳዮች አንዷ

I'm Reeyot Alemu

3 years/1000 days/15hrs/54minutes

Reeyot Alemu, Ethiopia's modern-day Jeanne D'Arc, was arrested two years ago on this day by TPLF (Tigray People's Liberation Front) security officials and now serving five years jail terms on trumped up terrorism charges at the notorious Kality prison with fellow prisoners of conscience and other violent criminals. Her only crime was being too critical of the regime's corrupt, inhumane, lawless practices against her millions fellow compatriots in that country where the late Prime Minister & Co. have been abusing their powers with impunity for the last two decades. Alemu worked as an English teacher and columnist for now defunct Amharic weekly newspaper called Feteh (Justice). After her arrest, Alemu was denied to have a legal counsel and detained without charge until September that year which is against her "constitutional" rights. What's funny and baffling about her jailers is that they accused of her

Is Ethiopian Spring in the making?

Oh DAMN (sorry for my French)! I missed one of Ethiopia's historic moment for the second time; tens of thousands of fellow compatriots hold the first ever huge and colorful peaceful demonstration in the capital Addis Abeba, since over a million supporters of the now defunct Ethiopian opposition party- CUD (Coalition for Unity and Democracy) took to the streets in 2005. I wish I were a bird to witness or participate in this

የ35ኛው ስቶክሆልም ማራቶን ኢትዮጵያውያን እድል ቀናቸው 35th ASICS Stockholm annual Marathon

በየዓመቱ እዚህ ስዊድን ዋና ከተማ በሚካሄደው የ35ኛው ስቶክሆልም ማራቶን ኢትዮጵያውያን እድል ቀናቸው። ሹምዬ ገርባ ኤቲቻ 2.16.13 ሰዓት በማስዝገብ 1ኛ ሲሆን እሱን ተከትሎ የገባው ደግሞ ኬኒያዊው ስቲቨን ቺሊሞ ሲሆን ኢትዮጵያዊው እንዳለ ተክለዓብ 2.18.29 ሰዓት በማስመዝገብ 3ኛ ሆኖ ውድድሩን አጠናቋል። ሹምዬ ይሄን በስቶክሆልም የተካሄደውን ውድድር ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ እንዳሸነፈ ለማወቅ የተቻለ ሲሆን ውድድሩን ካጠናቀቀ በኋላ በስዊድን ለሚገኘው ቲቪ4 ለሚባለው የቴሌቪዥን ማሰራጫ በሰጠው ቃለመጠይቅ ትናንትናው ውጤቱ እንዳልተደሰተና በሚቀጥለው ተመሳሳይ ውድድር የተሻለ ሰዓት ለማስመዝገብ እንደሚጥር ተናግሯል።

በሴቶች ምድብ የስዊድሽ ዜግነት ያላት ኢዛቤላ አንደኛ ስትሆን እሷን ተከትላ 2.41.57 ሰዓት በማስመዝገብ 2ኛ በመሆን ውድድሩን ያጠናቀቀችው ኢትዮጵያዊቷ ሃሊማ ሃሰን በሪሶ ስትሆን በሶስተኝነት የገባችው ደግሞ ስዊድናዊዋ ሯጭ ፍሪዳ ሉንደን ነበረች። ኢዛቤላ ይህንን ውድድር ለአምስት ተከታታይ ጊዜ ማለትም ከ 2008 እስከ 2011 እንደ አውሮፖውያኑ አቆጣጠር በማሸነፍ ብቸኛዋ የማራቶን ሯጭ ናት።

Ethiopia's Shumi Gerbaba Eticha and Sweden's Isabellah Andersson won men's and the women's titles of the 35tt ASCIS Stockholm annual Marathon on Saturday.

Ethiopian men marathoners came 1st and 3rd at 35th ASICS Stockholm annual Marathon. Shumie Gerba Eticha claimed the first place in the men's race with a time of 2:16:13 followed by Kenyan Stephen Chilmo with 2.17.51 and Endale Tekiab finished 3rd finishing with 2.18.29. It was Gerbaba's second victory since 2011. But however, he was not excited with his performance, telling reporters that he had hoped for a better result. Gerbaba told with interpreters local Swedish Channel TV4, "I hope to come back and improve the time."

In the women catageory, the Swedish marathoner Isabella Andersson came first with 2.33.49, Halima Hassen Beriso stood 2nd with 2.41.57 followed by Frida Lunden from Sweden crossing the finishing line in 2.46.42. Andersson is the only runner to have won the race five times, having previously come in first in four consecutive years between 2008 and 2011.

Is the Riot in Stockholm over?

I know, I should have written this piece last week while Stockholm was on the spotlight from from China to Spain from Russia to the UK due to the riot which engulfed with hundreds of cars set ablaze in much of the suburbs of the town. One of the reasons why I didn't write about it was I just wanted to see how the events develop and the other reason is that I feel like to sit back and see these episodes as an outsider (who lives far from these areas) and as insider as someone with immigrant background. Since I am not a social scientist, all my perspectives and views are only based on my observations and what I heard from residents affected by these incidents; and they shouldn't be considered

"I Shall Persevere!" Eskinder Nega's Defiant letter from Kality Prison

I shall persevere!

Eskinder Nega.

So that I may do the deed
that my soul has to itself decreed
-Keats.

Individuals can be penalized, made to suffer (oh, how I miss my child) and even killed. But democracy is a destiny of humanity which can not be averted. It can be delayed but not defeated.

በርካታ ቁጥር ያላቸው በስዊድን የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን የህውሃትን ዘረኛ ፖሊሲ አወገዙ Activists in Sweden call for greater rights

እጅግ በርካታ ቁጥር ያላቸው በስቶክሆልምና አካባቢዋ የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያንና ትውልደ ኢትዮጵያውያን ዓርብ ሚያዚያ ፬  (አራት) ቀን ፳፻፭ ዓ/ም  እዚህ ስቶክሆልም በሚገኘው የስዊድን የህዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት ፊት ለፊ ት በመገኘ ት ኢትዮጵያውያ ውስጥ በስልጣን ላይ ያለው የህውሃት መንግስትና በተለያዩ ክልሎ ች የሚገኙ ተከታዮቹ አማርኛ ቋንቋ ተናጋሪዎች ላይ ያነጣጠረውንና ኢሰብዓዊ በሆነ እና ሃላፊነት በጎደለው መልኩ ከቤት ንብረታቸው የማፈናቀል ዘመቻ በማውገዝ ከዚህ ድርጊታቸው እንዲቆጠቡ አሳሰቡ። የኦርቶዶክስና የእስልምና ሃይማኖት ተወካዮች በዚህ ከፍተኛ ቁጥር በነበረው የተቋውሞ ሰልፍ ላይ በመገኘት ይሄንን

Is Sweden relevant to Swedish-Eritreans?

“Sweden is irrelevant" Issais Afewerki, President of Eritrea, Asmara National Palace-Eritrea.

Back then in 2009, this is what Donald Böstrom, a freelance Swedish TV journalist was told when he asked Eritrea's incumbent what kind of relationship his country wants with Sweden. Fast forward 2013! I don't want to make a generalization but as an outsider and from my observation of some actual incidents in Sweden; I was left with no alternative but to assume that there are large numbers of Swedish-Eritreans who consider their home/second country-Sweden- as irrelevant as well. 

These group of people proved my assumption right on Friday afternoon ( March 22, 2013) by attacking me

"I have no plan B": Armenian asylum seeking painter/activist

That's what Armenian asylum seeking painter and activist Narek Aghajanyan told me at the opening of his 8^th exhibition, held last week at a small pizzeria located outside of Gävle, when I asked him what he would do if the Swedish Migration Board rejects the new asylum request he made after his second child was born one month ago. When I posed the same question to his beautiful and giggly wife, she told me

Are Eritreans still Hade Hzbi Hade Lbi, after 20 years of Independence?

Eritreans on Eritreans?

Hade Hzbi Hade Lbi (it means literally One Nation, One Heart in Tigrigna-a Hamitic language spoken both in Ethiopia and Eritrea) was/is a populist catch term used by the ruling Eritrean regime and many Eritreans to mobilize for "freedom" against "colonial" Ethiopia and still used by many PFDJ (People's Front for Democracy & Justice), Eritrea's single party to have unlimited and unfettered control on its people. But for an informed outsider or Eritreans themselves for that matter Hade Hzbi Hade Lbi is just myth which one can find it in the dictionary of PFDJ and its blind hardliner, brainwashed and die-hard supporters. A case in point is the recent triple arson attacks

I walk almost all night: Stockholm's Homeless Person

It was Sunday afternoon (February 17/2013) I was bored sitting at home and then decided to hunt for some stories and went down town at place locally called Medborgareplatsen (citizens place, its literal Swedish meaning) a hub for super trendy cafes/restaurants filled in with rich people with fat-wallets and homeless and or drug/alcohol addicted people are selling Situation Stockholm (local magazine about homeless people) or begging for alms or a few of them boozing on cheap alcohol or roaming around aimlessly. When I came out from the tube

Breaking News Alert! Divine Ethiopian police officers can arrest even those in HEAVEN!

TPLF Police officer: "it doesn't matter if you're in Washington or heaven; I'll come and get you."

TPLF (Tigray People's Liberation Front) police officers will start soon arresting every journalists on earth including those in heaven.  This surprising and breaking news was revealed yesterday while journalist Solomon Kifle of the Voice of of America-Amharic service (VOA)staff member tried to find about the allegation of Ethiopian Muslims of the capital city Addis Ababa who complained to

Don't MISS Ethiopia's Censorship talent-show!

Those who have talent related to cyber security can come and win the award

A winner will

-Eat dinner with the top management team of INSA

- Get scholarship or

- Create his/her own cyber security organization

- Join INSA

200,000 birr is allocated for the award

Also available at ethio-cer2t.insa.gov.et 

Isn't this advert really dazzling and awesome; just in case you wonder, it's a talent show orchestrated by the Ethiopian Information Security Agency (INSA) alias known by many Ethiopians as Censorship-in-chiefs and Phone trespassers Agency inviting eligible cyber geeks to come up with,

When my SKIN becomes my SIN

It was around 2 o'clock this afternoon, I was waiting for my turn to get medicine from one of the pharmacies here in Stockholm. We were about half a dozen people,  and then this very old and over-weight lady were scrambling to raise her feet in vain supported by another old but not so fragile woman when the automated queuing  machine buzzed their queue number. The old lady whom I guess was a friend/relative/care-giver or whatever was not able to lift up the other one; everybody was just simply watching as something normal or pretending looking somewhere else.

Isreal's war against Ethiopian "Jewish" women

Is History repeating itself in Israel?

It's still fresh in our memory the Holocaust and other inhumane atrocious crimes of Nazi Germany perpetrated against millions of Jews people and other unwanted races to create a pure Aryan race. Hitler and its followers tried everything on the book for the realization of their dreams which among other includes Eugenics, a racist practice which implemented to sterilize Jewish women. Six decades later descendants of the same victims are implementing almost